Team Section

Alan Kearns
Head Coach and Founder

Alan Kearns, Canada's Career Coach and CareerJoy founder, Workopolis career expert, Chapters/Indigo Trusted Advisor and author of Get the Right Job Right Now! is one of Canada's leading authorities on career management issues. As founder, president and head coach of Canada's career coaching company, Alan has shaped his almost 20 years of career management experience into a company that helps people from all over North America to navigate a wide variety of career-related issues.

Having been educated as an optician, Alan himself made a career transition when he leapt into the recruitment field and founded TalentLab, a recruitment agency. A few years later when he recognized that professionals need unbiased advice and tools to manage their careers, he founded CareerJoy.

Voted one of the Top 40 entrepreneurs under the age of 40, Alan is a regular contributor to Canadian media on the latest trends in the Canadian workforce. As host of the country's top rated career Podcast, CareerJoy Conversations, he interviews high-profile career gurus, ranging fron John Stanton, founder of The Running Room, to Jim Citrin, best-selling author of The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers.

Alan is a highly sought after guest speaker at organizations and conferences in Canada, where he enlightens employers and employees on all topics related to professionals and their careers.

Debora Dekok
Associate Coach

Two things Debora cannot live without are pen and paper. An award-winning photojournalist, Debora has written breaking news and quirky human interest stories for newspapers, as well as for corporate and military magazines. She recently left the world of journalism to grow strawberries on the family farm, but gets her writing itch scratched by composing resumes which she thoroughly enjoys. When penning resumes, Debora makes absolute sure to focus on the client's specific needs. When not helping clients market themselves better (and when not indulging in her weakness – dark chocolate), this avid runner can be found hitting the pavement in her neighbourhood.

Kevin Schafer
Associate Coach

Kevin was a Project Manager with a prominent hi-tech company in Ottawa when, in the midst of massive lay-offs, he was handed his “opportunity” for a career transition after 16-years of service. While it was the end of an era, he embraced the change. “I had to hide the grin on my face when they were breaking the news to me," he recalls. I saw this as an opportunity to explore some different avenues and possibly try something new and exciting”. With some career coaching and plenty of self-exploration, Kevin decided to leave the hi-tech industry behind. Following his passion, he founded a music agency. As a music manager and agent, Kevin discovered that his skills are directly transferable to CareerJoy. As a career coach, he continues to explore the passions of our clients and has particular skill when it comes to writing bios and marketing skills.

Tudor Robins
Resume Coach

Tudor credits the adventure of becoming a mother with giving her the strength and courage to take the big (and somewhat intimidating) step of writing for a living. She feels her degrees in English Literature and Journalism and years of accumulated experience in the publishing industry are being put to good use every time she sees her work in print. Tudor enjoys writing anything that tells a story and considers resumes to be the ultimate “short story” of a person’s life. When not crafting resumes or magazine features, Tudor is engaged in embracing her second childhood as she experiences life through the eyes of her two little boys.

Peggy Shkuda
Associate Coach

Peggy has enjoyed a 20 year career in the Canadian television industry. Now working with CareerJoy, Peggy provides career coaching and professional development for professionals who are looking to make a meaningful transition in their lives. Peggy brings to her position years of academic training in the counseling field. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy (University of Toronto) and she has an M.Ed from OISE in the Counseling Psychology Program for Community and Educational Settings. Her post-graduate studies were primarily focused on career and solution-focused counseling.

Lisa Rogers
Manager of Finance

Lisa is a quirky, fun, and upbeat woman with a strong sense of what she wants and how to get it. She has come a long way. In fact, she spent too many years believing that she had to have an "important" career where she earned wads of money. Having herself completed CareerJoy's Career Identity Program for Professionals, Lisa came to the realization that she needed more work-life balance in her life. Having time to relax and be with family, she discovered, is really what is "important" to her. These days, she works as CareerJoy's finance manager, while also growing her own bookkeeping business. Still, she makes sure to leave room for walking her young daughter to school and taking the odd afternoon stroll.

Janet Theobald
Associate Coach/Resume Coach

Janet is a social worker with experience primarily in the area of child welfare. Working at CareerJoy allows her to incorporate her two passions: writing and helping others. While working as a full-time mom to her two young children for the past five years, she recently enrolled in a master of social work program. In the fall of 2007, she began a placement with the city of Ottawa’s employee assistance program, fulfilling her life-long goal of becoming a private therapist. Motivated by a sincere belief in the innate potential of every human being, Janet is committed to helping others to pursue and realize their dreams. When not spending time with family or typing at her computer, this sports enthusiast can be found training for her latest triathlon or ½ marathon.

Kim Cochrane
Associate Coach

Kim is an experienced coach, trainer and HR and communications consultant, as well as a fitness instructor and trainer. Her over decade-long experience as a consultant and coach makes her passionate about helping others through transitions in their lives. She particularly loves that moment when clients awaken to a new sense of self and develop into the person they always dreamed they could be. As a fitness instructor and trainer, she is committed to wellness and to helping others achieve that vital balance between work and play. As a communications consultant and writer, she is committed to clear and effective communication and brings this experience to every coaching session. With degrees in sociology/economics and journalism, as well as a certificate in adult education and certified as an executive coach, Kim is currently pursuing an M.A. in leadership and training from Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C.

Kim has a healthy, positive attitude displaying infectious enthusiasm. She has the ability to challenge her clients and help them move towards a desirable and happier career. She take a holistic approach to change and personal development and factors both dynamics into the overall organizational strategy to help her clients achieve the desired outcome.

Ann Molloy
Resume Coach

For the past 10 years, Ann has spent a great deal of time thinking about what constitutes good writing. With a background in literature and theology, she worked for an arts and literary journal, wrote articles for a variety of newspapers, taught academic writing to university students and currently researches and edits articles in Potentia for scholarly publication. Hailing from New Jersey, she has lived in New York City, Vancouver, rural northern Saskatchewan and now resides with her husband the Rev’d C. Pete Molloy, in a quaint town in the heart of the Rideau River system. She truly enjoys helping people summarize their thoughts and life experiences on paper. Oh, the places you’ll go.

Kevin Wynne
Resume Coach

Kevin has always enjoyed reading and the role of imagination in making the words come alive on the page. His mother, a teacher, believed that the ability to read well was a critical cornerstone in any life. In fact, in the early 1960's, when phonics had fallen out of favour, she campaigned vigorously for its return to the elementary school curriculum. As an adult, Kevin worked as a reporter and editor in the Toronto entertainment industry, which led to the role as an author, contract editor, feature writer and program administrator. In recent years, he has consulted in the areas of technical writing and process analysis, becoming more deeply involved in business functions such as requirements gathering, discovery interviews with specialists, and collaborating on project documentation. His childhood love of words has manifested itself in a love of writing. Kevin uses his creativity and imagination as he writers careful resumes to make the life stories of his clients come to life.

Rebecca Undseth
Resume Coach

Rebecca is a professional writer and business development specialist with 10 years of experience supporting professional consulting firms. She has a diverse knowledge base with expertise in the energy (oil & gas, power, etc.) and human capital sectors. Rebeccaspecializes in managing the execution of strategic activities to engage prospects and she has a unique understanding of the proposal management process — from lead qualification through to client engagement. Through her years of selling consultative services, Rebecca has gained expertise in resume best practices.

David O'Hagan

David has coached recent graduates through to senior executives in the areas of personal development, career change and small business growth. He has also designed and facilitated workshops on topics that include leadership, time management, motivation, accountability, communication and networking. He is passionate about helping people define and proactively achieve their dream job and live truly rich lives. David thrives in creative thinking environments and regularly encourages others to break from the status quo and embrace revolutionary thinking.

Tina Woods
Associate Coach

Tina has an Honours BA in Sociology from Carleton University and a Master's Degree in Educational Counselling from the University of Ottawa and over 17 years of experience in a variety of career counselling roles within the government, community, non profit and academic environments. Tina is currently on a “leave of absence” from Carleton University Career Services where she has worked for the last 8 years. Her own personal passion is learning and sharing ideas about human development and creatively facilitating and modifying career coaching techniques according to client needs. Her basic counselling philosophy is that "people have all the resources that they need to discover their goals and dreams and that through exploration and reflection can discover this pathway”. Tina is a Certified Counsellor with the Canadian Counselling Association and in both Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), as well as Neuro Linguistic Programming NLP) and is a Member of the Canadian Counselling Association and the International Association for Positive Psychology.

Linda Smith
Associate and Resume Coach

Linda has been fascinated by careers and the path people take to personal fulfillment in their work for her entire life.  As a professional Corporate Recruiter for over 10 years, she assisted some of Canada’s fastest growing companies to attract and retain top talent.  Along the way, she learned numerous tricks of career success in writing impactful resumes, conducting winning interviews and leading effective job search strategies.   As a Career Coach for over 10 years, she has shared these career management insights with thousands of successful job seekers and remains passionate about helping people optimize their career satisfaction.  When not reading, speaking or learning about career satisfaction, Linda can be found on the trails, running through nearby conservation areas while trying to keep up with her teenagers (and usually ending up far behind them...)

Jenny Bridle
Manager of Client Services

The old saying about the closing of one door leading to the opening of another is an active truth in Jenny's career . . .and life.  Tenacious, passionate, and a firm believer in the value of others' points of view, Jenny started her working life on a horse farm. From this beginning, she learned several things about herself:  she enjoys challenges and problem solving (how do you thaw frozen water pipes in the barn in the middle of winter?);  she wants to help and work with people who are passionate ("horse people" are nothing if not passionate);  and, it's important to have a mature perspective on the true value of money (do I want to spend the rest of my working life with horse "crazy" people making very little money almost freezing to death?)  In answering these questions, Jenny decided to look for a new career direction. This search took her to university and along a number of different career paths including, research assistant, college and university instructor, executive assistant, marketing researcher, writer.  Along the way, she discovered her entrepreneurial side, using her academic training to research and write business plans, and to provide information retrieval and organization services to businesses, non-profits, and governmental agencies.  Although she found this most recent role interesting, something was missing, and her research brought her to the door of CareerJoy.  She enjoyed an initial consultation, and several CareerJoy assessments, gaining invaluable perspective and career insight.  Being CareerJoy's Manager of Client Services is the best career fit she has ever experienced, providing that essential work-life balance: she loves her career and enjoys time with her family and her horses.